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NKJV / KJV / NIV / ASV / Overview Chart.
The first section of First Peter dealt with the main purpose of suffering, the giving of glory to God. This is the PRIMARY purpose. The SECONDARY purpose is to mature the Christian. This process is called
SANCTIFICATION which means 'to be made more holy'. Literally 'holiness' means to be 'set apart' to and for God.
See this Quote by Spurgeon on the purpose of suffering.
God will allow us to go through times of suffering so we can become more like Jesus, more holy. He will not allow us to go through more than we can bear, but often we can bear more than we think!
Read this story about The Teacup and this Teaching on the purpose of Suffering we go through.
This section looks at the three step process of becoming more mature, more holy, which may be summed up in the following diagram.....
This process will be ongoing and repeated many times in our Christian experience. In order for us to mature in the midst of sufferings to be more holy, we must firstly have the right attitude. This right attitude will produce the right actions which in turn will lead to adoration in us and others (among those who are being saved).
Peter follows these three steps in his epistle (1 Peter 1:13-2:12) We will now look at each step in detail....
Return to main lesson outline to re-cap and choose the next section.